My friend and chef Cassandra Purdy held a two-day wood-fired oven building workshop (May 22-23) at her home in Bridgewater, Conn. While I was only able to attend for a few hours on Sunday, it was exciting to be a part of her latest venture in her catering career and a welcome foray into revitalizing how we cook with (and eat) local food.

Landscape designer and stoneworker David Neufield of North Star Stoneworks teamed up with Purdy to build her oven and instruct workshop participants on the uses and science behind these outdoor kitchens. Purdy also made homemade pizzas on Neufield's portable stone (albeit upwards of 3,000 lb-) oven to feed hungry friends and family during lunchtime.

Check out these pictures from the event:

Interested in having wood-fired pizza, bread or food at your next party? E-mail Cassandra at casserolepur@hotmail.com.